not your own reason tell you that such persons are not true Christians: that whateverthey may now think, or say, however they may now boast of their privileges, and may plume themselves upon their fancied distinctions, they will then be treated as workers of iniquity, as enemies of Christ, as despisers of the covenant of Grace; and will be cast into outer darkness, where shall beweeping and gnashing of teeth?

And while reason tells you these things, what does conscience say? Does it convict you of being in the state of which I speak? Does it secretly say to any one here present, "Thou art the man :" Thou art the per'son, who hast the form of godliness, but 'art without the power of it; who professest 'to know God, but in works deniest Him; who callest thyself a Christian, but hast no real interest in Christ; who trustest in thy 'privileges, but art an enemy to all serious godliness? If there be one, whose conscience speaks thus to him, let me earnestly say to him, Consider your ways. Consider them before it is too late; while yet there is time for repentance; while yet a door of mercy is open. Renounce your wisdom. Mortify your pride. Come as a little child to Christ, and pray to be baptized with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Pray that you may become a new creature, a worshipper of

God in spirit and in truth. Pray that his kingdom may be set up in your heart; and that, being enlightened, converted, and sanctified by his Spirit, you may walk with Him in newness of life.

Do you slight this counsel? Are you offended with this friendly admonition? Wise in your own conceits, are you too proud to be taught? Puffed up with fleshly wisdom, will you still boast still boast of your privileges, and say, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of Lord are we?" Is this the case? Then will I conclude with solemnly addressing you in the words of the prophet, "Lo, thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in thee." *

* Jeremiah, viii. 9.

SERMON II.

NATURE AND NECESSITY OF REGENERATION.

JOHN, iii. 7.

Marvel not, that I said unto Thee, Ye must be born again.

THE truth contained in these words is one of the most weighty in Scripture: one which concerns us all, and requires the deepest attention. May God dispose our hearts to attend to it with seriousness, humility, and impartiality! The way in which we receive the doctrine of the New Birth is one of the clearest tests of the pride, or the humility of our heart; of its teachable, or unteachable, of its prejudiced, or unprejudiced state. For the better understanding of the subject, let us shortly review the circumstances which stand connected with the text.

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and ruler of the Jews; a person of the strictest sect, and highest authority among them, having heard of the miracles which Jesus wrought, and

being convinced that He could work thei only through the power God, was desirous of being acquainted with the doctrines which He taught. He accordingly came to Him, and from fear either of discovery or of interruption, came to him by night. Addressing Him in terms of great respect, he professed his conviction that He was a teacher come from God: "for no man," added he, "can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Jesus, without any delay, proceeded to put his profession to the test. He proceeded to try, whether he was so convinced of His divine mission, as implicitly to receive the doctrines which He taught, however opposed they might be to human prejudice and human pride. In a most solemn and decisive manner, He said to Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This declaration astonished the Pharisee, who, taking the new birth of which our Lord spoke, in a literal sense, asked with surprise, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" But the birth to which Christ referred, as He went on to show, was not a literal, but a spiritual birth. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he

cannot enter the kingdom of God." The birth which He meant was a birth, of which the application of water was the figurative emblem, or sign, but which was really to be effected by the agency of the Spirit of God. It was, in short, an inward and a spiritual change, a change of heart and nature, by the influence of the Holy Spirit; the reason and necessity for which our Lord immediately adduces, "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit."-This statement so clearly pointed out the nature and necessity of the new birth, to which he alluded, that He directly adds in the text, "Marvel not, that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." As if he had said, Be not surprised at my ' assertion. That new birth, which, as a 'teacher sent from God, I declare to be so 'indispensably necessary to salvation, that ' without it, no man can see or enter the kingdom of God, contains nothing in it'self impossible; nothing contradictory; nothing, in fact, but what is perfectly agreeable to reason, to Scripture, and to experience; nothing but what you, as a 'master in Israel, might easily have known, and ought to understand.' In discoursing further on the text thus explained, I shall enter more fully,

I. On the Doctrine contained in it.